RP: YSS Resurgence Resurgence of Yamatai - Mission 1: Homeworld

Kwabba-an smiled as soon as she heard Seinosuke's voice. She turned her head to look in the direction it was coming from, and she was pleased to see that the fiery-winged Elysian had rejoined them. She let go of her pistol with one hand and gave him a friendly wave.

Thinking back, Kwabba-an could clearly hear Miss Aradia-Hei's voice in her head, and how she had referred to him. She tried her best to mimic the exact intonation the other Elysian had used. "H-hello, Mochi!"

Takashi nearly jumped when he heard an unfamiliar voice. His hand went for the pistol at his side but stopped when he realized that this new person was dressed in a Star Army of Yamatai uniform, with a green panel just like his own. He relaxed and spent a moment making a note.

• Mochi: green panel (science), blonde hair, green eyes, wings with a colour gradient from red at the shoulders to yellow at the tips, Elysian. Not obviously armed.

"I am Sonoda Takashi Santô Hei. I agree with Hoshi-Hei. Pidole is suffering from a grievous injury as a result of exploding shrapnel and she should have the metal removed from her body as soon as possible, though it does not appear to be life-threatening." Takashi furrowed his brow as he wondered why he got the impression that bringing Pidole back to the Resurgence wasn't an option. "If we can't bring her back to the ship for whatever reason, we had better bring her down to the medical bay, which may be equipped to help Poppy perform the necessary surgery."

Pidole nodded. "I guess I could manage for a while without the shrapnel being removed if it's necessary but this seems like really poor medical care for a peacetime situation," she frowned. "At this point I just want to call it a day and start again fresh tomorrow. How urgent is this survey mission, really? Also, when they blew up the security center's monitoring equipment they removed the ability for us to easily track where they are. I get the impression that there were other things happening in the facility and they were in the security center to watch for intruders and to prevent anyone seeing what they were up to."

Kwabba-an wore a troubled expression as she looked at Sanda, Sonoda Takashi, Pidole, then finally Mochi again.

On the one hand, she couldn't stand seeing her friend Pidole in pain. It made her want to cry, carry her out to their shuttle, and personally fly her back to the Resurgence. Never mind the fact that she had no idea how to fly a shuttle, nor that she was part of an away team that had yet to accomplish its mission.

On the next hand, Pidole's pain, Cheilith getting stunned, and Miss Aradia-Hei's injury made her angry. She wanted to find out what those Uesu nekos were up to and put a stop to it, no matter what it was. In fact, she actually wanted to personally make them pay for hurting her friends, but she had calmed down enough by this point to recognize that as a bad idea.

On her third hand, she thought that keeping a level head and discussing things would help them come up with an effective strategy to accomplish all their goals. The primary goal of the away team mission was to investigate this building and they now had more questions than when they had when they arrived.

On her final hand, she acknowledged that every moment that they spent talking was another moment that Pidole was in pain. It was also another moment that the Uesu nekos had to do what they were here for and get out unimpeded.

Thinking back, she replayed the conversation they'd had with the bridge crew. Her eyes didn't work that well, but she had an excellent memory for sound, including speech. Without thinking, she quietly mouthed the words as she replayed them in her head, carefully taking the time to parse them for their meaning which was not something she did automatically.

Trying to speak up to Mochi, Kwabba-an felt her voice catch in her throat. Instead, she turned to Pidole. Usually, she had an expression like she was daydreaming and wasn't fully aware of her surroundings, but for the moment she seemed entirely present and deadly serious.

"Hōjō-Taii said," and she mimicked Kagura's voice when she continued. "We'll bring whoever needs to come back up along with that first shuttle after your reinforcements arrive and assess the situation."

Kwabba-an glanced at Sanda before continuing, now back to her normal voice.

"It would appear that our reinforcements have arrived, so now is the time to bring you back up with the first shuttle. The rest of us can complete the survey and take the second shuttle back."

Mochi grimaced as he took in Pidole's condition. It was a lot to catch up on. Clearly the situation had changed substantially from when they had first been guided to this place - likely not something the command staff aboard the Resurgence could ever have predicted. The officer nodded in agreement, casting his gaze across the equipment that was currently at their disposal. Not much. Regardless, the other team members like Kwabba-an, and one of their reinforcements - Sanda - were throwing out good ideas.

"Very good. If we have a shuttle, it's a no-brainer to use it as a medevac." Seinosuke spoke calmly, twirling his science scanner idly. "Our presence here was more of a tourist affair than any sort of military mission. We're underequipped to fight an unknown number of veteran Uesu fighters who have no doubt prepared for this." Mochi added, pacing a little as he did. "We're blind and don't know what we're facing right now."

Mochi tapped the scanner a few times, making the scan more generic in target and widening the range. If it showed large clusters of lifesigns, that could give an indication of whether this might be a few rogues or an organised insurrection. "That being said, we have only just had our STs completed. Tactically speaking, even if we all got wiped out, if we transmitted intel that could be used to figure out the Uesu's goal, that might be the difference between the Resurgence knowing of a small terrorist incident or full scale rebellion." A short pause. "In the best case scenario, we'd also be able to delay or stop whatever is going on here ourselves. Worst case, the Resurgence bombs this place off the map."

Snapping his emerald eyes up from the scanner screen, Mochi would point to Pidole. "I need volunteers to escort Pidole back to the Resurgence with Poppy in case they encounter hostiles. Everyone who thinks they can be of more use on the Resurgence than down here should go too but I need everyone I can if possible." Afterwards, the Elysian gestured to Sanda, "You mentioned an armory. I'll need everyone else to head there and for Pidole's escort to rendezvous there with us once she's extracted." The officer seemed to think for a moment. "If Pidole's escort encounter enemies, fall back to the armory and we'll get her to the medbay as an alternative."

"Once we've armed up, we'll see about reconnaissance and harassment. Hopefully the Resurgence can even send the shuttle back down with a few Mindies if we're lucky. In the meantime, anyone technically minded should think about ways to gather the intel we need indirectly as we're probably outnumbered." The Elysian's wings ruffled a little, "If anyone had an idea about how we can force multiply, shout up right away too."

Seinosuke stopped pacing, turning to the team. "The Uesu probably have access to our lines of communication. So only use direct messaging if you need to and telepathy if you have it. Hopefully everyone brought a PDA of some kind. We'll be under infiltration conditions from here on out."

"Any questions, objections or thoughts?" Mochi finished, almost rhetorically. They needed to get underway and he seemed to be in command. It was plain to see that time was of the essence. Not just for Pidole but for the sake of what could be a very sensitive mission. But of course, it was always best to ask for input before embarking on a plan of action.

Sanda's gripped tighten on her rifle and she turned around as it to scan her surroundings. But it reality it was an attempt to bring her anger and annoyance back under control. This was one of the reasons Sanda loved being a Ranger. You were given orders, dropped somewhere and then left alone to survive. You did have committees. She toyed with the idea of just shooting everyone with a stun blast except for Music Bug and carry them all up to the shuttled. That idea made her smile and brought her annoyance back under control.

"Sir," Sanda said carefully, "My orders are to get everyone safely topside then advise the Resurgence of our condition. I'm more than happy to track down and kill whoever ambushed my teammates but that will have to wait until everyone is safely topside and the Resurgence has been updated." Sanda looked around at the others then lastly at Pidole. "Now let's get little Pidole home. She's suffered long enough. Move out. I've got the point."

Planet's Surface - Away Team

Aradia had been, for the most part, silently handling her broken foot - doing her best to keep weight off of it, utilizing little bursts of flight occasionally. Unfortunately, though, the pain - as much as she was trying to act tough - made it nearly impossible to concentrate, or talk, or... Anything.

YSS Resurgence
Arbitrated paced back and forth, back and forth. There was bad news from the team - her husband's team. An attack. Nobody's dead, apparently - luckily, thankfully - but in the heart of Yamataian space? On the HOMEWORLD? It's true, the young couple was not unfamiliar with danger at home - but it was no less unsettling.

Back and forth, back and forth, heavy little footfalls from a pregnant little bird. She thanked the stars that her children were asleep.

Mochi looked over to Sanda as she elaborated on what the issued orders had been, no doubt from the Captain. "Alright, that's music to my ears if we're ordered to all make the shuttle ASAP." Seinosuke nodded, feeling some weight lift from his shoulders. "If it's from the top, we'll definitely do that prior to anything else. They might know something we don't." Having clarity as to the shuttle being there not for a medevac but as a primary mission objective - to update the Resurgence - was definitely good intel.

It made the officer wonder what exactly the Resurgence knew. This was one of those moments that every second could mean something bad happening as the bad guys executed whatever plan they had. There was a time and a place for an officer to take their own initiative prior to communicating for likely identical orders to their own plans. Still, this was Mochi's first real military command. If the Captain had ordered they report in, that was actually somewhat reassuring as it simplified the equation.

"Okay everyone. Let's hop to it. Sanda and the others who came in, take point if you have a weapon. Everyone else with a weapon try to maintain a 360. Anyone unarmed stay in the centre of the formation." Watching their Ranger start moving out in the correct direction, Seinosuke would take up a central position amongst the group, checking the lifeform scanner to see any surprises up ahead.

Poppy nodded to Seinosuke and, together with Euikoshi, supported Pidole on both sides and the trio slowly made their way out the front door and to the gate. Soon they were inside the T11 shuttle that Kalena had brought them in.

"Why doesn't this thing have seats?" Pidole groaned.

Takashi noticed the second Elysian for the first time and gave her a quick inspection before amending his notes:

• ???: green panel (science), light brown hair, heterochromia: left blue/right silver, wings gradient light blue at shoulders to pink tips, Elysian. Not obviously armed. Favouring one of her legs. Injured?

As much as he wanted to discuss everything further, Takashi was happy when "Mochi" and Sanda worked out what to do. Now he had a simple goal to focus on. He tucked his datapad into the case that hung from his belt and pulled out his GSP 28. He pulled the slide back and glanced down to visually verify that he was loading a round into the chamber before releasing it with a satisfying sound.

Ready for action, Takashi joined the queue shortly after Sanda as they headed to the shuttle, he held his pistol with both hands and kept its muzzle pointed down and away from her. When they passed through the first door, he quickly retrieved the glove he had stuffed in the lock hole to make sure it wouldn't lock behind them.

As soon as Pidole started moving, Kwabba-an jumped up and followed closely behind. She was confident that Sanda could handle anything in front, but she wanted to make sure they were covered from the rear. She spent much of her time walking backwards, sweeping her borrowed gun menacingly, even though she was much more of a threat with the knife and multi-tool she held with her other hands. Though she tried to move quietly, the claws of her bare feet clicked loudly on the hard floors.

Sanda led the way to the shuttle. She moved carefully, but quickly. Her rifle checking every corner before moving on. She had to admit that she was enjoying this though. Aside from the annoying discussion about what they should do, Sanda relished the rush, the heighten senses. She hadn't felt this since Glimmergold. She had secretly been afraid that after Glimmergold there wouldn't be any more need for a Ranger with her skills.

With the shuttle in sight, Sanda moved to the back of the group with Kwabba-an to watch scan the roof and the way they had come. "Good form Music bug. I guess whoever attacked you got off lucky that you weren't better armed. Next time you go out, I hope you remember this mess and take a backup weapon or two on top of your standard issue kit."

Captain Majime called down to the away team. "Hello everyone. I think we're just going to turn this over to the military police and let you guys come back to the ship. It looks like we have a new side mission as well. I'll tell you all about it when you get here."

Kalena got the shuttle going and, along with Beryl in the second shuttle, gathered up the rest of the Resurgence crew members and brought them up through the clouds and into space where the gunship was peacefully hanging in orbit. When they arrived, Pidole went with Poppy to the medical lab.

"Anyone else need a hand?" Cassie asked everyone arriving back.

Kwabba-an, upon seeing the cute anthro cat person she remembered from the train ride up to Ketsurui no Iori, smiled shyly at Cassie and shook her head to indicate that she didn't need a hand. She walked past them, following Pidole to the medical lab.

"Oh, hello," Takashi greeted Cassie warmly. "No, I don't need assistance thank you. I'm Sonoda Takashi, nice to meet you. I literally just got here."

Sanda shook her head at Cassie as she disimbarked from the shuttle. "I'm good." Besides herself there were only two other members of the ship who were primarly fighters. Cassie and Cheilith. Sanda had only had brief dealings with either of them, though she had seen a little bit of Cheilith down below.

"Any idea what the Captain has planned for us Cassie?" asked Sanda.

Seinosuke accompanied the others back to the ship, safely docking with the Resurgence and getting them out of what may have been a tight situation. With a smile, Mochi accepted Cassie's hand as he made his way out of the shuttle.

Elysian wings were great and all, but sometimes squeezing through doors could offbalance the ex-Minkan. Even after so many years, occasionally such things were known to happen. "Cheers." The officer thanked her, before straightening his uniform slightly and saw about making his way up to the Bridge.

"Yeah," Cassie nodded. "I heard from a friend that there's some major fleet operations happening with cleaning up Kuvexian remnants in the Kikyo Sector," Cassie told Sanda. "I bet it has something to do with that!"

Sanda thought about that a moment. Well a mop-up action was better than no action at all but it would be uncertain how much they'd need a ranger for a fleet action. Of course, there was always boarding an enemy ship. That thought put a smile on her tattooed face. "Sounds good to me. I'm pissed I missed all the good parts of the little scrap planet side."

Takashi looked back and forth between Cassie and Sanda for a little while, wondering to himself about what Kuvexians were like. Specifically he wondered about their biology and what their symbiotic bacteria were like, if they had any. He took a step back from the exchange when he remembered that he had left his bag on the bridge in his rush to get to the shuttle, and did his best to remember the path to the bridge.

"Fleet Operations? How exciting." Seinosuke grinned, beginning to step towards the direction of the Resurgence's bridge. "Just like old times. I guess they haven't got the message that the damn war is over, eh?"

"I think the Empress just wants to make sure anything that had a Kuvexian flag flying doesn't have one there anymore," Cassie grinned, giving a thumbs up.

"Sounds like a perfect job for us." Mochi nodded, walking alongside the orders who may be on their way upwards. "Back before dinnertime hopefully, mhm?" The Elysian jested, finally making it up to the doors of the command centre.

Takashi followed shortly thereafter, popping into the bridge just to pick up his discarded bag. He turned to leave, but then remembered something so he stopped and pulled out his data pad, making a note about "Cassie," who had been referred to by Sanda.

Remembering another thing, Takashi put away his datapad and pulled out his sidearm. He removed the magazine, then pulled the slide to remove the round from the chamber, careful to keep it from flying out. He then pushed the round back into the magazine, and the magazine back into the pistol. He sighed with relief when he realized that he had survived his first away mission.

"We have a cook now," Cassie told Iemochi. "Her name is Rossa. This will be our first meal by her!"

"Good. I've had my fill of cooking meals that people don't eat." laughed Sanda.

Seinosuke chuckled as Cassie and Sanda spoke up. "Great! I can't wait to see what's in store!" The Elysian then glanced to Sanda and quipped, "You can always make some MREs, hehe." It was a bit cheeky, everyone knew MREs weren't of the same quality as other meals, but it was clear he was having a friendly poke.

"Once we've checked in, I'm going to have a look over the combat equipment we have aboard just in case we need it. Feel free to join if anyone is looking for something to do - depending on our orders that is." The officer seemed to be looking around for one of his more senior colleagues.

Takashi left the bridge and resumed his pathfinding algorithm, this time in search of a bunk for his stuff. He briefly considered going back to the science lab he had found on the topmost level of the ship, but decided that he would rather not carry his bag around.